Filipino fighters ready for combat at ONE FC: Rise of Heroes

“Mabuhay, Pilipinas!” exclaimed Fil-Am fighter Ana Julaton and the gathered crowd at the the Mall of Asia Atrium erupts into cheers.

Julaton is a familiar face in combat sports, having conquered the boxing world as the first boxer of Fil-American descent to win the Women's WBO Super Bantamweight and IBA Super Bantamweight titles. Not content with her supremacy in striking, the fighter nicknamed “The Hurricane” will make her mixed martial arts debut on Friday, May 2 against Egyptian kickboxing champion, Aya Saeid Saber.

It’s still an open question whether Julaton’s vastly superior footwork will prove better than the varied striking of Saber, but the bout is no doubt an exciting and highly-anticipated one in Asia’s growing MMA distaff division.  

ONE FC chief executive Victor Cui described the Julaton-Saber fight as “explosive” as both love to engage. “Filipinos and MMA fans around the world will surely like this match between two explosive fighters on May 2,” he said.

Julaton is just one of five Pinoy fighters in tomorrow’s card to make weight for ONE FC: Rise of Heroes to be held on Friday, at the MOA Arena, with a card top-billed by the featherweight title fight between reigning champ Bibiano Fernandes and Masaketsu Ueda.  


An intense stare-down between another Pinay boxer, Jujeath Nagaowa, and Jeet Toshi proved to be one of the highlights at the weigh-in, with Toshi putting her fist and forehead right up against Nagaowa’s face.

A former WBC Asia Atomweight Champion, Nagaowa is also making her debut in the MMA cage, while her opponent already has a 2-1 record under her belt.

Local MMA legend Eduard Folayang meanwhile faces a former champion in Japan’s Kotetsu Boku in the co-main event. “No Face” Boku is coming off a TKO win over Arnauld Lepont last March. Folayang’s Team Lakay comrades also grace the card, with former URCC champion Rey Docyogen facing American fighter Joshua Alvarez, while Euegene Toquero is up against undefeated Malaysian-American Gianna Subba.

Aside from the featherweight championship bout between Fernandes and Ueda, other fights that may prove to be slam bang finishers include a rematch between Australia’s Rob Lisita and Japan’s Yusiule Kawanago, and a heavyweight bout between England’s James McSweeney and Russia’s Chris Lokteff.  - AMD, GMA News





Official weigh-in results:

MAIN EVENT

ONE FC Bantamweight World Championship bout: Masakatsu Ueda (61.2 kg / 134 lbs) VS Bibiano Fernandes (61.0 kg/ 134 lbs)

CO-MAIN EVENT

Lightweight bout bout: Kotetsu Boku (69.7 kg/ 153 lbs) VS Eduard Folayang (70 kg/ 154 lbs).

MAIN CARD

Flyweight bout: Joshua Alvarez (55.9 kg/ 123 lbs) VS Rey Docyogen (56.1 kg/ 124 lbs)

Featherweight bout: Rob Lisita (65.5 kg/ 144 lbs) VS Yusuke Kawanago (65.3 kg/ 144 lbs)

Heavyweight bout: James McSweeney (109 kg/ 240 lbs) VS Chris Lokteff (114.5 kg/ 251 lbs)

Middleweight bout: Tatsuya Mizuno (83.6 kg/ 184 lbs) VS Leandro Ataides (83.6 kg/ 184 lbs)

Flyweight bout: Aya Saeid Saber (56.4 kg/ 124 lbs) VS Ana Julaton (56.7 kg/ 125 lbs)

UNDERCARD

Flyweight bout: Gianni Subba (56.7 kg/ 125 lbs) VS Eugene Toquero (56.7 kg/ 125 lbs)

Atomweight bout: Jeet Toshi (47 kg / 104 lbs) VS Jujeath Nagaowa (48 kg / 105 lbs)